Safety-razor.



G. A. JOHNSON. SAFETY RAZOR.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 26, 1908.

Patented Sept. 14, 1909.

IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNE Y5 WITNESSES: 7

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SAFETY-RAZOR.

Application filed December 26, 1908.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 14, 1909.

Serial No. 469,338.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUsrAF A. JOHNSON, a subject of the King of Sweden, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and- State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Safety-Razor, of which the fol-- lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in razors of the so-called safety variety, and consists of certain peculiar blade-holding members, including a shank, side plates, and binders, and of a specially constructed guard for the blade and means for attaching said guard to said shank and for limiting the movement of the guard, all as hereinafter set forth.

The objects of my invention are, first, to produce a practicable and efficient device that is adapted to hold securely a razor blade in place, either while being used in the act of shaving or while being stropped; second, to provide such a device with a suitable guard to be employed as a protection against said blade during the shaving operation if desired, but which can be readily removed when it is not required at such a time or when the blade is to be stropped, and, third, to furnish positive, strong, and durable, yet simple and convenient, attaching and detaching appliances for the blade and for the guard of a safety-razor.

Attention is called to the fact that this device may be employed either as a safety razor or like an ordinary razor, as suits the convenience of the person using the same.

I attain the objects and secure the ad vantages above pointed out, as well as others which will appear in the course of the following description, by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the safetyrazor complete; Fig. 2, a top plan view of said safety-razor; Fig. 3, a front end elevation of the same; Fig. at, a transverse, central, vertical section through the device shown in the preceding views, looking toward the rear; Fig. 5, an end elevation of the guard, detached; Fig. 6, an end elevation of one of the binders; Fig. 7, a bottom view of such binder; Fig. 8, a group view of the razor blade and the holding plates therefor, in perspective; Fig. 9, a front end view of the shank, and, Fig. 10, a cross-section through the slottedpart of said shank, looking toward the rear and at the dog which is located at thisend of the shank. In the first four views the parts are arranged to show the blade and guard in one of the two relative positions which they assume for the shaving act.-

Similar figures refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings, which illustrate a practical form of my invention, I show a shank 1, a blade 2, two side plates 3 and 4: for such blade, two binders 5 for said plates, aguard 6 having the usual serrated edges, two dogs 7 and 8 to limit the swing of said guard, and a thumb-nut 9. The shank 1 is the member upon'which all of the other members, with the exception of the blade 2, are directly mounted, and from which they may be detached.

' I will now describe the aforesaid members in detail and explain their relation to each.

other and how they function.

The shank 1 consists of a rod having a perforated lug 10 at its rear end to afiord means for the attachment of a suitable handle (not shown), and provided with the following features in order from back to front: A shoulder 11, an angular part 12 having a smaller area than the shouldered art in cross-section, oppositely disposed slots l3-13 oblique to the vertical diameter of said angular part, which latter in the present case is rectangular, a long flattened portion or bearing 14 on top which tapers slightly from the transverse center downwardly in both directions, a second angular part 15 which is similar to the first excepting that it is a little smaller, and a screwthreaded projection 16. Transversely the bearing 1 L is parallel with the tops of the parts 12 and 15, although having its ends respectively situated below the top of the former and above the top of the latter. The area of the part 15 is smaller than that of the shank behind such part, in cross-section, and the same is true of the projection 16 relative to saidpart 15. All of the angular, round and rounded parts of the shank have the same axis.

The blade 2 is very thin and has divergent ends with shoulders 17-17 thereon. The fiat portion of the plate 3 is large enough to receive the blade 2 and is provided at the ends on its inside face with lugs 18-18 which are adapted to receive on their upper ends the blade shoulders 17 and to embrace between them the ends of said blade below said shoulders. The top of the plate 3 is in the form of a roll 19 which extends over theoutside face of said plate and is adapted to fit one side of the shank 1 between the slotted portion at 13 and the rectangular part 15.

The upper edge of the roll 19 is tapered -to-- correspond tothejtaper of the bearing 14. The plate 4: is very similar to the plate3, but is without lugs and its roll 20 is con siderably shorter than the roll 19. If the depth of the lugs 13 be greater thanthe thickness of theblade 2, thenthe' plate 4 must be'shorter than the plate 3 so as to enable said plate 1 to be received between said lugs, and this is the preferred construction since the stability of the blade-holding parts is enhanced thereby. These bladeholding parts are so proportioned that th bladeextends below the plates. 7

' The binders 5 are employed to secure the plates 8 and 4, with the blade 2 between them and supported by the shoulders 17 on the lugs 18 and held against endwise movement by said lugs,- to the shank 1 with a wedging contact and action, said binders engaging the rolls l9 and 20 at opposite ends. Each of these binders consists of a more or less resilient sleeve capable of being placed on the shank and of being forced onto the rolls 19 and '20, a' longitudinal opening 21 in the binder accommodating the plates '3 and 4 at the bases of said rolls. The edges of the opening 21 in each binder 5 incline or flare outwardly or diverge fromtheir outer'ends, and each binder. has an'interior lug 22 at its outer end directly over said opening, which lug is designed to-slide on the shankbearing 14 between the upper edges of the rolls l9 and 20. 1 Now it will be seen that, when the bindersand the rolls are in place on the'shank, by forcingsaid binders toward each other they will tightly bind said rolls to said shank owing to the wedging action of the lugs 22' on the bearing 14' and the wedging action ofthe binders on the tapered rolls. Theftapered edges of the openings 21 not only facilitate the initial engagement'of thebinders with the rolls, but afiord wedging means whereby the plates 3 and 1 are tightly bound together at the junctions of the rolls with the fiat portions of the plates. It is in the manner just described-that the blade isfirmly and securely attached to the shank.

Since the roll 20 is shorte'r'thanthe roll 19, the plate 4 can be released without releasing the plate 3 by moving the binders'5 outward'until they clear the ends of said roll 20. This enables the'blade 2'to be removed and another one substituted-therefor without takingofi" the plate 3 from the shank. These changes can be made without removing the-guard 6.

The guard 6 has arms'23-23 at'th'e ends which bow inward somewhat to simulate in a'measure the shape of the ends of the blade and its plates, and these arms are resilient so thattheyican be compressed when mounted on the shank and will then offer some frictional resistance to the swinging action of said guard, enough resistance 1n short to retain the guard, under normal conditions, in.

o. p The lower, partially circular portion of the opening 24: in each arm 23 receives the 1 shank 1', and it isthe' edges of this part of said'arm that bear on said shank, while the upper portion or said opening receives the inwardly-extending pro ection 25 from the I adjacent dog 7 or 8, such projection being 'situatedbetween. the two'horns 26 at the top of the-arm. Theconstricted, middle portion of each of the aforesaid openings is only wide enough to recelve either the part of the shankwhich has the slots 13 therein orthe projection 16. The dogs 7 and8, whichare j V V rectangular opening in the center than the latter, are respectively mounted on the rec tangular parts 12 and 15, which they fit snugly, with their projections25 directe'dinwardly or toward each other and extending into the spaces between the horns26 at-the upper ends of the guard arms 23, when the guard is in place. The thumb-nut 9 holds the dogs in place. on-the part 15between both alikesave' that theformer has a larger 7 said nut and the shoulder formed by the larger section of the shank which is backxof saldpart 15,-and the guard arms are'held on said shank under compression between said dog--8-and--thedog 7. "The guardbca'nbe 7 swung to either side of theblade *2, or -the latter swung to either side of the formerfso,

that the cutting. edge'of saidblade i's'located as'usual a littleabove and beyond-onelon-- gitudinal edge orthe other of saidguard,

and the guard will remain normally in-wh'atever position it occupiesrelative to said blade because of the frictional contact of the arms 23,)vhich areunder-tension, with' the 7 dogs? and 8. Said dogs limit;t-hexswingoi theguard, through-the medium of-the-p'ro-' jections 25- and the'horn's 26, the latter being spaced apart sufliciently to pro'vide'for this movement, and insu're the proper positioning relatively of the guard and blade-L It will be'noted that there isspaceenough on the .7 shank between the slots 13-and the part 12 and between the part 15 and the adjacent end ofthe plate roll 19to afiord bearings for the guide arms 23. V -To remove the guard 6 from the shank 1, ifit be desired to employ the razor' witho'ut such guard, or ifthe blade is to be; sharpened, or for any other purpose, unscrew and remove the thumb-nut 9 and take off-the dog 8,:then move the-guard-toward the'front opening 2A in the rear arm 23 coincides with the oblique slot 13, and separate the arms 23 from said shank, the slotted portion of the latter escaping through the aforesaid constricted portion and the projection 16 escaping through the corresponding portion of the opening in the other arm. The guard is restored to position on the shank by having its arms returned to place in the same way as they were removed, and then by replacing the dog 8 and the thumb-nut 9. The slots 13 are cut obliquely in the shank so as to enable the guard to be attached and detached without interfering with the blade and its plates, as it would do if the operation were performed from directly below for the reason that said blade and plates and the arms of said guard all converge as they rise and said arms even when sprung apart or uncompressed are too close together to receive between their upper ends the bottom portion of the blade.

It is conceivable, of course, that some or all of the parts which enter into the construction of this device may be changed somewhat, especially in shape and size, without departing from the nature of my invention.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a device of the class described, with a suitable shank, of a razor blade, side plates independent of each other and of such shank and adapted to hold said blade between them, such plates being provided with rolls to fit over said shank without contacting with each other, and longitudinally-movable binders on such shank capable of engaging said rolls on the outside and of pressing them against the shank to confine them thereon.

2. The combination, in a device of the class described, with a shank having a longitudinally-tapered portion, of a razor blade, side plates adapted to hold said blade between them and provided with tapered rolls to fit over said shank without contacting with each other, and longitudinally-movable open-bottomed binders on the shank capable of engaging said rolls on the outside and of pressing them against the shank to confine them thereon, said binders being provided with internal lugs to bear on said tapered portion of the shank between adjacent edges of the rolls.

3. The combination, in a device of the class described, with a shank, of a razor blade having shoulders at the ends, side plates for said blade, said plates having rolls at the top to fit said shank and one of them being provided with end lugs to engage the ends of the plate below said shoulders, and longitudinally-movable binders on said shank capable of engaging said rolls and confining them to the shank.

4. The combination, in a device of the class described, with a shank, and razor blade-holding means, of a guard having resilient arms at the ends adapted to be mounted and to swing on said shank, means to limit the swinging motion of said arms and guard, and stationary means to hold such arms against displacement while on said shank and at the same time to press them toward each other in order to produce frictional resistance between the arms and their holding means.

5. The combination, in a device of the class described, with a shank having dogs fast thereon, and razor blade-holding means, of a guard having arms at the ends adapted to be mounted and to swing on such shank, such arms having openings therein into which said dogs extend to limit the swinging movement of said arms.

6. The combination, in a device of the class described, with a shank having an obliquely slotted portion and an end projection, and razor blade-holding means, of a guard provided with arms having openings in their upper terminals and edges, such openings being constricted so as to afford bearing means below for said arms on said. shank and provided with passages for such slotted portion and such end projection of the shank, the construction of said shank and guard arms being such that the guard can be attached to or detached from the shank by a lateral movement, and means to hold the arms against outward endwise movement on the shank.

7. The combination, in a device of the class described, with a shank having an obliquely slotted portion and an end portion which is screw-threaded, and provided with normally fixed dogs, and razor blade-holding means, of a guard having arms at the ends adapted to be mounted and to swing on such shank between such dogs, such arms having openings therein into which such dogs extend to limit the swinging movement of said arms, such openings extending into the arms far enough to afford bearings therefor and being constricted intermediately to form passages for such slotted portion and such end projection of the shank when the guard is removed or replaced, and a thumbnut adapted to be screwed onto said end projection against one of said dogs.

GUSTAF A. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

F. A. CUTTER, A. C. FAIRBANKS. 

